FMA Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

FMA Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,266 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.7% of FMA Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. FMA Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $202.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 172.48% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.25.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.